Doctors and Burnout: Why You’re Carrying Too Much
You’re not just tired.
You’re carrying too much—and pretending like it’s normal.
In the hospital, in the clinic, even in your “breaks”… you’re holding:
Emotional weight from patient stories
Guilt for wanting a day off
Pressure to perform at all costs
Invisible labor as the only woman, the only Black doc, the only one who “gets it”
You’re trying to be excellent, empathetic, efficient, and available.
All the time. In every room.
And if you’re asking yourself, “Why does this feel heavier than it used to?” — the answer is simple:
Because it is.
Burnout Isn’t Just Exhaustion. It’s Overcapacity.
Burnout isn’t always a full-on breakdown.
For most doctors, it’s a slow, quiet depletion that looks like:
Resentment instead of fulfillment
Brain fog during routine tasks
Crying between patients and snapping at your family
Fantasizing about quitting but feeling too guilty to say it out loud
Burnout doesn’t mean you’re weak.
It means your system has been overrun by too much for too long—and no one gave you permission to put anything down.
Here’s What You Might Be Carrying Right Now:
🩺 Patient Responsibility: The emotional labor of always having the answers, making the call, and absorbing everyone else’s pain.
⚖️ Cultural Expectations: Especially for marginalized doctors—outperforming, overdelivering, and being “twice as good” for half the respect.
📈 Perfectionism: You’re afraid that slowing down = slipping up. That resting means risking what you’ve built.
📦 Unprocessed Dreams: The version of you who wanted more but got buried under survival mode. You feel them whispering, and it hurts.
You Were Never Meant to Carry It All Alone
This system rewards self-sacrifice.
But what it doesn’t tell you is that sustainable success requires support.
You’re not weak for being tired.
You’re human for feeling the weight.
And you’re powerful for choosing to set it down.
🎧 Hear How One Doctor Reclaimed Her Life
In this episode of the Docs Get Money Podcast, I talk to Dr. Nikia Smith about the moment she realized she wasn’t just “burned out”—she was buried. And how she found a way out.
🎙 “Not Another Burnout Story: How Dr. Nikia Smith Reclaimed Her Life Outside the OR”
We go beyond the usual surface-level solutions and talk about what it really takes to break free and build something that nourishes you instead of draining you.
👩🏾⚕️ Final Word
You’re not carrying too much because you’re broken.
You’re carrying too much because the system was built to put it all on you.
But here’s the truth:
You don’t have to earn your rest.
You don’t need permission to pivot.
And you’re allowed to build a life that feels like ease, not emergency.
💌 Ready to explore what that looks like?
Start with my free 5-day email course: How to Make $5K in 5 Days Without Seeing Patients
Or, book a 1:1 Action Plan call if you're ready to build a business that honors your body, your brilliance, and your boundaries.
You’ve carried enough. Let’s build something lighter.